US7225671B2 - Fluid-quantity gauging - Google Patents
Fluid-quantity gauging Download PDFInfo
- Publication number
- US7225671B2 US7225671B2 US11/090,212 US9021205A US7225671B2 US 7225671 B2 US7225671 B2 US 7225671B2 US 9021205 A US9021205 A US 9021205A US 7225671 B2 US7225671 B2 US 7225671B2
- Authority
- US
- United States
- Prior art keywords
- fluid
- processor
- density
- height
- transducer
- Prior art date
- Legal status (The legal status is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the status listed.)
- Expired - Fee Related, expires
Links
Images
Classifications
-
- G—PHYSICS
- G01—MEASURING; TESTING
- G01F—MEASURING VOLUME, VOLUME FLOW, MASS FLOW OR LIQUID LEVEL; METERING BY VOLUME
- G01F23/00—Indicating or measuring liquid level or level of fluent solid material, e.g. indicating in terms of volume or indicating by means of an alarm
- G01F23/22—Indicating or measuring liquid level or level of fluent solid material, e.g. indicating in terms of volume or indicating by means of an alarm by measuring physical variables, other than linear dimensions, pressure or weight, dependent on the level to be measured, e.g. by difference of heat transfer of steam or water
- G01F23/28—Indicating or measuring liquid level or level of fluent solid material, e.g. indicating in terms of volume or indicating by means of an alarm by measuring physical variables, other than linear dimensions, pressure or weight, dependent on the level to be measured, e.g. by difference of heat transfer of steam or water by measuring the variations of parameters of electromagnetic or acoustic waves applied directly to the liquid or fluent solid material
- G01F23/296—Acoustic waves
- G01F23/2962—Measuring transit time of reflected waves
-
- G—PHYSICS
- G01—MEASURING; TESTING
- G01F—MEASURING VOLUME, VOLUME FLOW, MASS FLOW OR LIQUID LEVEL; METERING BY VOLUME
- G01F22/00—Methods or apparatus for measuring volume of fluids or fluent solid material, not otherwise provided for
-
- G—PHYSICS
- G01—MEASURING; TESTING
- G01F—MEASURING VOLUME, VOLUME FLOW, MASS FLOW OR LIQUID LEVEL; METERING BY VOLUME
- G01F23/00—Indicating or measuring liquid level or level of fluent solid material, e.g. indicating in terms of volume or indicating by means of an alarm
- G01F23/22—Indicating or measuring liquid level or level of fluent solid material, e.g. indicating in terms of volume or indicating by means of an alarm by measuring physical variables, other than linear dimensions, pressure or weight, dependent on the level to be measured, e.g. by difference of heat transfer of steam or water
- G01F23/28—Indicating or measuring liquid level or level of fluent solid material, e.g. indicating in terms of volume or indicating by means of an alarm by measuring physical variables, other than linear dimensions, pressure or weight, dependent on the level to be measured, e.g. by difference of heat transfer of steam or water by measuring the variations of parameters of electromagnetic or acoustic waves applied directly to the liquid or fluent solid material
- G01F23/296—Acoustic waves
- G01F23/2966—Acoustic waves making use of acoustical resonance or standing waves
-
- G—PHYSICS
- G01—MEASURING; TESTING
- G01F—MEASURING VOLUME, VOLUME FLOW, MASS FLOW OR LIQUID LEVEL; METERING BY VOLUME
- G01F23/00—Indicating or measuring liquid level or level of fluent solid material, e.g. indicating in terms of volume or indicating by means of an alarm
- G01F23/80—Arrangements for signal processing
- G01F23/802—Particular electronic circuits for digital processing equipment
- G01F23/804—Particular electronic circuits for digital processing equipment containing circuits handling parameters other than liquid level
-
- G—PHYSICS
- G01—MEASURING; TESTING
- G01N—INVESTIGATING OR ANALYSING MATERIALS BY DETERMINING THEIR CHEMICAL OR PHYSICAL PROPERTIES
- G01N9/00—Investigating density or specific gravity of materials; Analysing materials by determining density or specific gravity
- G01N9/002—Investigating density or specific gravity of materials; Analysing materials by determining density or specific gravity using variation of the resonant frequency of an element vibrating in contact with the material submitted to analysis
-
- G—PHYSICS
- G01—MEASURING; TESTING
- G01N—INVESTIGATING OR ANALYSING MATERIALS BY DETERMINING THEIR CHEMICAL OR PHYSICAL PROPERTIES
- G01N9/00—Investigating density or specific gravity of materials; Analysing materials by determining density or specific gravity
- G01N9/24—Investigating density or specific gravity of materials; Analysing materials by determining density or specific gravity by observing the transmission of wave or particle radiation through the material
-
- G—PHYSICS
- G01—MEASURING; TESTING
- G01N—INVESTIGATING OR ANALYSING MATERIALS BY DETERMINING THEIR CHEMICAL OR PHYSICAL PROPERTIES
- G01N9/00—Investigating density or specific gravity of materials; Analysing materials by determining density or specific gravity
- G01N9/26—Investigating density or specific gravity of materials; Analysing materials by determining density or specific gravity by measuring pressure differences
- G01N9/28—Investigating density or specific gravity of materials; Analysing materials by determining density or specific gravity by measuring pressure differences by measuring the blowing pressure of gas bubbles escaping from nozzles at different depths in a liquid
Definitions
- This invention relates to fluid-quantity gauging.
- the indication of density may also be used in the height computation because the velocity of ultrasonic energy in fluid varies with its density.
- the indication of density may be provided by a densitometer mounted within the tank. Whilst the densitometer can provide an accurate indication of density it can only provide this indication at the location of the densitometer. There can be considerable variation in density due to temperature variation within the fluid (temperature stratification) or other physical conditions, such as variations in water content or chemical composition of the fluid at different heights.
- a fluid-quantity gauging system including a plurality of acoustic transducer assemblies mounted for immersion in a fluid, and processing means arranged to energize the transducer assemblies and to receive outputs from the transducer assemblies, the processing means being arranged to derive from the transducer assemblies signals indicative of density at a plurality of locations within the fluid and signals indicative of height of fluid at a plurality of locations whereby the mass of fluid can be calculated.
- the processing means may be arranged to determine the resonant frequency of some at least of the transducer assemblies, the processing means being arranged to derive the signals indicative of density from the resonant frequency.
- the signals indicative of height of fluid and the signals indicative of density may be derived from the same transducer assemblies. Alternatively, the signals indicative of height of fluid and the signals indicative of density may be derived different from different ones of the transducer assemblies.
- the transducer assemblies providing the signals indicative of density are preferably located adjacent those providing the signals indicative of height and may be connected in parallel with the transducer assemblies providing the signals indicative of height.
- the transducer assemblies providing the signals indicative of height are preferably each located at the lower end of a respective still well.
- the transducer assemblies providing the signals indicative of density are preferably mounted at different heights, the processing means being arranged to model the variation of density with height and to use this in the calculation of the mass of the fluid.
- FIG. 1 shows the system schematically
- FIG. 2 is a graph illustrating variation in density with height
- FIG. 3 shows a modification of the system of FIG. 1 ;
- FIG. 4 illustrates interconnection of transducers in the arrangement of FIG. 3 .
- FIG. 1 there is shown an aircraft fuel tank 1 having an inclined floor 2 and containing three ultrasonic, acoustic height measurement probes 3 , 4 and 5 located in different regions of the tank.
- Each probe 3 to 5 includes a tubular still well 30 , 40 and 50 mounted to project substantially vertically upwards from the floor 2 and a piezoelectric ultrasonic transducer assembly 31 , 41 and 51 mounted within the still well at its lower end.
- the still well 30 to 50 is open so that it is filled with fuel to the same height as fuel 6 in the tank.
- Each transducer 31 to 51 is mounted so that it is immersed in any fuel present and so that, when energized, it transmits a burst of ultrasonic energy upwardly along the still well 30 to 50 .
- the transducers 31 to 51 in each probe 3 to 5 are connected with a processing unit 20 , which is arranged to energize the probes and calculate the height h 3 , h 4 and h 5 of fuel 6 at each probe 3 , 4 and 5 respectively.
- the processing unit 20 is also arranged to measure the resonant frequency of each transducer assembly 31 to 51 .
- the processing unit 20 includes a store 21 containing a look-up table relating resonant frequency to density and, using this, it determines the density d 3 , d 4 and d 5 at the transducer assembly 31 to 51 in each probe 3 , 4 and 5 respectively.
- the processing unit 20 then produces a model of the variation in density d with height S of the kind shown in FIG. 2 .
- the processing unit 20 uses this information both in calculations of fuel height, to compensate for variations in acoustic velocity with density, and in calculating the total mass of fuel after determining its volume. In this way, the accuracy of measurement of fluid mass can be improved without the need for separate densitometers.
- the processing unit 20 provides an output representative of mass of fuel to a display or other utilisation means 22 .
- each probe 3 ′, 4 ′ and 5 ′ could have a density-measuring transducer assembly 32 ′, 42 ′ and 52 ′ associated with it in addition to the height-measuring transducer assembly 31 ′, 41 ′ and 51 ′.
- the transducer assemblies 32 ′, 42 ′ and 52 ′ are mounted outside the still wells 30 ′, 40 ′ and 50 ′ and closely adjacent the lower end of the probe where the height-measuring transducer assemblies 31 ′ to 51 ′ are located, so that the density is measured as close as possible to the height-measuring transducers.
- the density-measuring transducer assemblies 32 ′ to 52 ′ are preferably connected in parallel with the height-measuring transducer assemblies 31 ′ to 51 ′ so that the supply to and from the probe assembly 3 ′ to 5 ′ including the density-measuring transducer can be provided along one cable.
- This arrangement enables two transducer assemblies of different kinds to be used, one being more suited to height measurement and the other having a greater variation in resonant frequency with density.
- the transducer assemblies in a parallel pair may operate at different frequencies, thereby enabling the processing unit to select between the two transducer assemblies.
- the probes could be used in an open, tubeless configuration, such as of the kind described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,670,710.
- the height-measuring transducer assembly could be used to measure the density, or a separate transducer assembly could be used.
Abstract
Description
Claims (11)
Applications Claiming Priority (2)
Application Number | Priority Date | Filing Date | Title |
---|---|---|---|
GBGB0407656.8A GB0407656D0 (en) | 2004-04-03 | 2004-04-03 | Fluid-quantity gauging |
GB0407656.8 | 2004-04-03 |
Publications (2)
Publication Number | Publication Date |
---|---|
US20050217367A1 US20050217367A1 (en) | 2005-10-06 |
US7225671B2 true US7225671B2 (en) | 2007-06-05 |
Family
ID=32247859
Family Applications (1)
Application Number | Title | Priority Date | Filing Date |
---|---|---|---|
US11/090,212 Expired - Fee Related US7225671B2 (en) | 2004-04-03 | 2005-03-28 | Fluid-quantity gauging |
Country Status (3)
Country | Link |
---|---|
US (1) | US7225671B2 (en) |
FR (1) | FR2868532B1 (en) |
GB (2) | GB0407656D0 (en) |
Cited By (3)
Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
---|---|---|---|---|
US20150053004A1 (en) * | 2012-03-21 | 2015-02-26 | Eaton Corporation | Digital densitometer and fuel gauging system |
US9618377B2 (en) | 2013-09-26 | 2017-04-11 | Drs Sustainment Systems, Inc. | Methods and apparatuses for determining the volume of a substance in a flexible tank |
US10564022B2 (en) | 2017-04-18 | 2020-02-18 | Simmonds Precision Products, Inc. | Aircraft fuel gauging method using virtual probes |
Families Citing this family (7)
Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
---|---|---|---|---|
GB0506466D0 (en) * | 2005-03-31 | 2005-05-04 | Smiths Group Plc | Fluid-gauging systems |
FR2904448B1 (en) * | 2006-07-31 | 2008-09-26 | Airbus France Sas | METHOD AND DEVICE FOR AIDING THE MANAGEMENT OF SUCCESSIVE FLIGHTS OF AN AIRCRAFT. |
GB0714060D0 (en) | 2007-07-20 | 2007-08-29 | Airbus Uk Ltd | Ultrasonic fluid measurement method |
DE102011081316A1 (en) * | 2011-08-22 | 2013-02-28 | Robert Bosch Gmbh | Device for determining quality of reducing agent solution, has tank for receiving reducing agent solution which has inlet line and outlet line, where ultrasonic sensor is arranged in inlet line or in outlet line |
DE102016201194A1 (en) * | 2016-01-27 | 2017-07-27 | Continental Automotive Gmbh | Device for measuring a level in a fuel tank |
DE102018213445A1 (en) | 2018-08-09 | 2020-02-13 | Lucas Automotive Gmbh | Vehicle device with a spindle / nut arrangement and with an anti-rotation device and method for mounting an anti-rotation device for producing such a vehicle device |
DE102018213853A1 (en) * | 2018-08-17 | 2020-02-20 | Zf Friedrichshafen Ag | Level measuring system |
Citations (6)
Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
---|---|---|---|---|
US4815323A (en) | 1985-06-28 | 1989-03-28 | Simmonds Precision Products, Inc. | Ultrasonic fuel quantity gauging system |
US4996656A (en) | 1988-09-02 | 1991-02-26 | Innovative Solutions & Support, Incorporated | Densitometer with remotely disposed control electronics |
GB2309524A (en) | 1996-01-26 | 1997-07-30 | Smiths Industries Plc | Determination of fluid quantity from density measurements |
WO1998009139A1 (en) | 1996-08-28 | 1998-03-05 | Videojet Systems International, Inc. | Resonator sensors employing piezoelectric benders for fluid property sensing |
FR2795818A1 (en) | 1999-07-01 | 2001-01-05 | Smiths Industries Plc | FLUID GAUGE SYSTEM |
US20020101373A1 (en) | 2000-12-08 | 2002-08-01 | Arndt G. Dickey | Measurment system and method |
-
2004
- 2004-04-03 GB GBGB0407656.8A patent/GB0407656D0/en not_active Ceased
-
2005
- 2005-03-17 GB GB0505449A patent/GB2412734B/en not_active Expired - Fee Related
- 2005-03-28 US US11/090,212 patent/US7225671B2/en not_active Expired - Fee Related
- 2005-03-29 FR FR0503033A patent/FR2868532B1/en not_active Expired - Fee Related
Patent Citations (7)
Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
---|---|---|---|---|
US4815323A (en) | 1985-06-28 | 1989-03-28 | Simmonds Precision Products, Inc. | Ultrasonic fuel quantity gauging system |
US4996656A (en) | 1988-09-02 | 1991-02-26 | Innovative Solutions & Support, Incorporated | Densitometer with remotely disposed control electronics |
GB2309524A (en) | 1996-01-26 | 1997-07-30 | Smiths Industries Plc | Determination of fluid quantity from density measurements |
US5900535A (en) | 1996-01-26 | 1999-05-04 | Smiths Industries Plc | Method and apparatus for ultrasonic measurement of fuel quantity and density |
WO1998009139A1 (en) | 1996-08-28 | 1998-03-05 | Videojet Systems International, Inc. | Resonator sensors employing piezoelectric benders for fluid property sensing |
FR2795818A1 (en) | 1999-07-01 | 2001-01-05 | Smiths Industries Plc | FLUID GAUGE SYSTEM |
US20020101373A1 (en) | 2000-12-08 | 2002-08-01 | Arndt G. Dickey | Measurment system and method |
Non-Patent Citations (2)
Title |
---|
French Search Report No. FR 0503033, dated Oct. 30, 2006, 2 pages. |
International Search Report No. GB0505449.9, dated May 27, 2005, 1 pg. |
Cited By (4)
Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
---|---|---|---|---|
US20150053004A1 (en) * | 2012-03-21 | 2015-02-26 | Eaton Corporation | Digital densitometer and fuel gauging system |
US9851285B2 (en) * | 2012-03-21 | 2017-12-26 | Eaton Corporation | Digital densitometer and fuel gauging system |
US9618377B2 (en) | 2013-09-26 | 2017-04-11 | Drs Sustainment Systems, Inc. | Methods and apparatuses for determining the volume of a substance in a flexible tank |
US10564022B2 (en) | 2017-04-18 | 2020-02-18 | Simmonds Precision Products, Inc. | Aircraft fuel gauging method using virtual probes |
Also Published As
Publication number | Publication date |
---|---|
GB2412734A (en) | 2005-10-05 |
FR2868532B1 (en) | 2008-01-25 |
GB0505449D0 (en) | 2005-04-20 |
US20050217367A1 (en) | 2005-10-06 |
GB2412734B (en) | 2007-09-12 |
GB0407656D0 (en) | 2004-05-05 |
FR2868532A1 (en) | 2005-10-07 |
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Legal Events
Date | Code | Title | Description |
---|---|---|---|
AS | Assignment |
Owner name: SMITHS GROUP PLC, UNITED KINGDOM Free format text: ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNORS INTEREST;ASSIGNOR:ATKINSON, HARRY;REEL/FRAME:016423/0692 Effective date: 20050301 |
|
STCF | Information on status: patent grant |
Free format text: PATENTED CASE |
|
AS | Assignment |
Owner name: GE AVIATION UK, ENGLAND Free format text: ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNORS INTEREST;ASSIGNOR:SMITHS GROUP PLC (FORMERLY SMITHS INDUSTRIES PLC);REEL/FRAME:020143/0446 Effective date: 20070504 |
|
FPAY | Fee payment |
Year of fee payment: 4 |
|
FPAY | Fee payment |
Year of fee payment: 8 |
|
FEPP | Fee payment procedure |
Free format text: MAINTENANCE FEE REMINDER MAILED (ORIGINAL EVENT CODE: REM.); ENTITY STATUS OF PATENT OWNER: LARGE ENTITY |
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LAPS | Lapse for failure to pay maintenance fees |
Free format text: PATENT EXPIRED FOR FAILURE TO PAY MAINTENANCE FEES (ORIGINAL EVENT CODE: EXP.); ENTITY STATUS OF PATENT OWNER: LARGE ENTITY |
|
STCH | Information on status: patent discontinuation |
Free format text: PATENT EXPIRED DUE TO NONPAYMENT OF MAINTENANCE FEES UNDER 37 CFR 1.362 |
|
FP | Lapsed due to failure to pay maintenance fee |
Effective date: 20190605 |